PAL ANNIVERSARY. Philippine Airlines Chairman Dr. Lucio C. Tan (center) leads a toast before blowing the candle on a special cake to mark PAL's founding anniversary that kicked off the countdown to PAL's 70th birthday on March 15, 2011.

The anniversary celebration – tagged "Soaring to 70" – held last March 15 at the Century Park Hotel, Manila, also served as the launching of a year-long series of sales promotions targeting a wide range of travelers. PAL first took to the skies on March 15, 1941 from Nielsen airfield in Makati to Baguio. Also in photo are Jaime J. Bautista (right), PAL president, and Richard S. Miller, chief commercial group adviser of PAL.